4.7 Review

Climate Change Risks to Global Forest Health: Emergence of Unexpected Events of Elevated Tree Mortality Worldwide

Related references

Note: Only part of the references are listed.
Article Forestry

Growing stock monitoring by European National Forest Inventories: Historical origins, current methods and harmonisation

Thomas Gschwantner et al.

Summary: Wood resources have been essential for human welfare throughout history, and growing stock is a key forest attribute monitored by National Forest Inventories. The origins of forest inventories date back to times of wood shortage in Europe, leading to the exploration and planning of wood utilization. Over time, forest surveys have evolved to cover larger areas, with modern NFIs assessing a multitude of variables related to sustainable forest management.

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2022)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Global field observations of tree die-off reveal hotter-drought fingerprint for Earth's forests

William M. Hammond et al.

Summary: This study utilizes a geo-referenced global database to quantify the impact of drought and hotter climate on tree mortality events. The research finds a strong correlation between global hotter-drought climate signals and tree mortality, and predicts a nonlinear increase in mortality frequency under projected warming.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2022)

Review Plant Sciences

Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO2

Anthony P. Walker et al.

Summary: Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has the potential to enhance plant growth and contribute to a global terrestrial carbon sink, slowing down the rate of climate change. However, the complexity of ecosystem responses and interactions with other global change factors make it challenging to determine the exact impact of CO2 on the climate.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2021)

Review Plant Sciences

Patterns and mechanisms of spatial variation in tropical forest productivity, woody residence time, and biomass

Helene C. Muller-Landau et al.

Summary: Tropical forests exhibit varying biomass and productivity levels based on factors such as humidity, elevation, temperature, and soil fertility. Areas with higher disturbance experience lower wood residence time and biomass. These variations are influenced by both direct effects of changing environments on forest carbon fluxes and shifts in functional composition.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2021)

Review Ecology

Why is Tree Drought Mortality so Hard to Predict?

Anna T. Trugman et al.

Summary: Widespread tree mortality following droughts is a significant ecological surprise, with predictions limited by physiological factors, site factors, and ecological interactions. An integrative approach is needed to assess forest risk to drought-driven mortality in a changing climate.

TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2021)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Emergent vulnerability to climate-driven disturbances in European forests

Giovanni Forzieri et al.

Summary: This study quantifies European forest vulnerability to fires, windthrows, and insect outbreaks from 1979 to 2018 using machine learning, disturbance data, and satellite products. Results show that about 33.4 billion tonnes of forest biomass could be seriously affected, with higher relative losses in windthrows and fires compared to insect outbreaks. The spatial pattern of vulnerability is influenced by forest characteristics and background climate, with hotspot regions identified at the borders of the climate envelope in southern and northern Europe.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2021)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Storm and fire disturbances in Europe: Distribution and trends

Cornelius Senf et al.

Summary: Abiotic forest disturbances caused by storms and fires are important drivers of ecosystem dynamics in Europe, with storms being more prevalent in western and central Europe, and fires more common in southern and southeastern Europe. The area and frequency of storm-related disturbances have been increasing over time, while no clear trend is observed for fire-related disturbances.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2021)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Taking the pulse of Earth's tropical forests using networks of highly distributed plots

Cecilia Blundo et al.

Summary: Tropical forests are the most diverse and productive ecosystems on Earth, and a global community is working together to improve our understanding of them through diverse teams measuring forests tree-by-tree in thousands of long-term plots. Through this collaboration, significant scientific discoveries are being made, changing the landscape of tropical forest science.

BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION (2021)

Article Forestry

Effects of El Nino drought on tree mortality and growth across forest types at different elevations in Borneo

Kazuki Miyamoto et al.

Summary: The 2015-2016 El Nino drought had a significant impact on tree dynamics in the tropical forests of Borneo, leading to higher tree mortality at low elevation compared to high elevation and independent effects of drought and elevation on tree mortality. Contrary to expectations, tree mortality in heath forest at low elevation was comparable or higher than in mixed dipterocarp forest during the drought period.

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2021)

Article Plant Sciences

Above-ground net primary productivity in regenerating seasonally dry tropical forest: Contributions of rainfall, forest age and soil

Justin M. Becknell et al.

Summary: In seasonally dry tropical forest, annual rainfall is positively related to the growth of above-ground woody tissues of trees, and droughts result in significant reductions in above-ground productivity.

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY (2021)

Editorial Material Plant Sciences

To what extent can rising [CO2] ameliorate plant drought stress?

Martin G. De Kauwe et al.

Summary: There are still unresolved questions about plant responses to drought under eCO(2) conditions, and future studies need to carefully consider factors such as timescales, environmental conditions, and soil water content. New insights into CO2 x drought interactions are essential for better constraining model theory in future climate projections.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2021)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Tracking the impacts of El Nino drought and fire in human-modified Amazonian forests

Erika Berenguer et al.

Summary: The study focuses on the impact of the 2015-16 El Nino event on the Amazonian forests, revealing that extreme El Nino drought and fires resulted in plant mortality and significant carbon loss, with human disturbance exacerbating these effects. Findings suggest that limiting forest disturbance can help maintain carbon stocks and enhance the resistance of Amazonian forests to fires.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2021)

Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Vulnerability of European ecosystems to two compound dry and hot summers in 2018 and 2019

Ana Bastos et al.

Summary: In 2018 and 2019, central Europe experienced two consecutive extreme dry and hot summers, with severe impacts on ecosystems. The effects of compound extreme events can be amplified by past disturbance legacies, increasing vegetation susceptibility to additional hazards. These findings highlight the importance of considering interannual legacy effects in predicting the impacts of climate extremes on ecosystems.

EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS (2021)

Article Biology

How do herbivorous insects respond to drought stress in trees?

Claire Gely et al.

BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS (2020)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

A catastrophic tropical drought kills hydraulically vulnerable tree species

Jennifer S. Powers et al.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2020)

Article Plant Sciences

Palms and trees resist extreme drought in Amazon forests with shallow water tables

Thaiane R. Sousa et al.

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY (2020)

Review Plant Sciences

Plant responses to rising vapor pressure deficit

Charlotte Grossiord et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Large contribution from anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought

A. Park Williams et al.

SCIENCE (2020)

Review Multidisciplinary Sciences

Pervasive shifts in forest dynamics in a changing world

Nate G. McDowell et al.

SCIENCE (2020)

Article Plant Sciences

A Dynamic Model for Strategies and Dynamics of Plant Water-Potential Regulation Under Drought Conditions

Phillip Papastefanou et al.

FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset

Ian Harris et al.

SCIENTIFIC DATA (2020)

Article Environmental Sciences

Simulating interactions between topography, permafrost, and vegetation in Siberian larch forest

Hisashi Sato et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Long-term collapse in fruit availability threatens Central African forest megafauna

Emma R. Bush et al.

SCIENCE (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Excess forest mortality is consistently linked to drought across Europe

Cornelius Senf et al.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2020)

Review Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Challenges for drought assessment in the Mediterranean region under future climate scenarios

Yves Tramblay et al.

EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Forest and woodland replacement patterns following drought-related mortality

Enric Batllori et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2020)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Tree mode of death and mortality risk factors across Amazon forests

Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert et al.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2020)

Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Robust Ecosystem Demography (RED version 1.0): a parsimonious approach to modelling vegetation dynamics in Earth system models

Arthur P. K. Argles et al.

GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT (2020)

Article Ecology

Understanding the uncertainty in global forest carbon turnover

Thomas A. M. Pugh et al.

BIOGEOSCIENCES (2020)

Article Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

The European 2016/17 Drought

Ricardo Garcia-Herrera et al.

JOURNAL OF CLIMATE (2019)

Article Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Implementing Plant Hydraulics in the Community Land Model, Version 5

Daniel Kennedy et al.

JOURNAL OF ADVANCES IN MODELING EARTH SYSTEMS (2019)

Article Plant Sciences

Which trees die during drought? The key role of insect host-tree selection

Nathan L. Stephenson et al.

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

Amazonian rainforest tree mortality driven by climate and functional traits

Izabela Aleixo et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2019)

Review Ecology

Bark Beetle Population Dynamics in the Anthropocene: Challenges and Solutions

Peter H. W. Biedermann et al.

TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

Increasing impacts of extreme droughts on vegetation productivity under climate change

Chonggang Xu et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2019)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change

Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert et al.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2019)

Article Plant Sciences

Compound fire-drought regimes promote ecosystem transitions in Mediterranean ecosystems

Enric Batllori et al.

JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY (2019)

Article Forestry

Patterns and correlates of giant sequoia foliage dieback during California's 2012-2016 hotter drought

Nathan L. Stephenson et al.

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2018)

Article Environmental Sciences

Chronic historical drought legacy exacerbates tree mortality and crown dieback during acute heatwave-compounded drought

George Matusick et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2018)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Hydraulic diversity of forests regulates ecosystem resilience during drought

William R. L. Anderegg et al.

NATURE (2018)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Classifying drivers of global forest loss

Philip G. Curtis et al.

SCIENCE (2018)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Subcontinental heat wave triggers terrestrial and marine, multi-taxa responses

Katinka X. Ruthrof et al.

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2018)

Review Biology

Modelling tropical forest responses to drought and El Nino with a stomatal optimization model based on xylem hydraulics

Cleiton B. Eller et al.

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (2018)

Letter Multidisciplinary Sciences

Climate change drives tree mortality

Tamir Klein et al.

SCIENCE (2018)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics

Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert et al.

ECOGRAPHY (2017)

Article Environmental Sciences

Remotely sensed predictors of conifer tree mortality during severe drought

P. G. Brodrick et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2017)

Article Engineering, Electrical & Electronic

The Role of Climatic Anomalies and Soil Moisture in the Decline of Drought-Prone Forests

David Chaparro et al.

IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING (2017)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

On the key role of droughts in the dynamics of summer fires in Mediterranean Europe

Marco Turco et al.

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS (2017)

Article Ecology

A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality

Henry D. Adams et al.

NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2017)

Article Environmental Sciences

Multi-scale predictions of massive conifer mortality due to chronic temperature rise

N. G. McDowell et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2016)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Decreasing Net Primary Production in forest and shrub vegetation across southwest Australia

Niels Christiaan Brouwers et al.

ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS (2016)

Article Environmental Sciences

Amazon forest response to repeated droughts

T. R. Feldpausch et al.

GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES (2016)

Article Plant Sciences

Eucalyptus forest shows low structural resistance and resilience to climate change-type drought

George Matusick et al.

JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE (2016)

Article Environmental Sciences

Resilience of Amazon forests emerges from plant trait diversity

Boris Sakschewski et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2016)

Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Linking hydraulic traits to tropical forest function in a size-structured and trait-driven model (TFS v.1-Hydro)

Bradley O. Christoffersen et al.

GEOSCIENTIFIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT (2016)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink

R. J. W. Brienen et al.

NATURE (2015)

Review Plant Sciences

Tree mortality from drought, insects, and their interactions in a changing climate

William R. L. Anderegg et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2015)

Editorial Material Plant Sciences

Research frontiers in drought-induced tree mortality: crossing scales and disciplines

Henrik Hartmann et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2015)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

On the factors that promote the diversity of herbivorous insects and plants in tropical forests

Judith X. Becerra

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2015)

Review Plant Sciences

Global satellite monitoring of climate-induced vegetation disturbances

Nate G. McDowell et al.

TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE (2015)

Article Environmental Sciences

Darcy's law predicts widespread forest mortality under climate warming

Nathan G. McDowell et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2015)

Article Plant Sciences

Do water-limiting conditions predispose Norway spruce to bark beetle attack?

Sigrid Netherer et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2015)

Article Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

How unusual is the 2012-2014 California drought?

Daniel Griffin et al.

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2014)

Article Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset

I. Harris et al.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY (2014)

Article Plant Sciences

Spatio-temporal water dynamics in mature Banksia menziesii trees during drought

Martin K. -F. Bader et al.

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM (2014)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Abrupt increases in Amazonian tree mortality due to drought-fire interactions

Paulo Monteiro Brando et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2014)

Article Ecology

Patterns of Forest Decline and Regeneration Across Scots Pine Populations

Albert Vila-Cabrera et al.

ECOSYSTEMS (2013)

Article Environmental Sciences

Temperature as a potent driver of regional forest drought stress and tree mortality

A. Park Williams et al.

NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE (2013)

Article Environmental Sciences

Impact of recent climatic change on growth of low elevation eastern Mediterranean forest trees

Dimitrios Sarris et al.

CLIMATIC CHANGE (2011)

Article Forestry

Synergistic effects of past historical logging and drought on the decline of Pyrenean silver fir forests

Jesus Julio Camarero et al.

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2011)

Editorial Material Plant Sciences

Mechanisms Linking Drought, Hydraulics, Carbon Metabolism, and Vegetation Mortality

Nathan G. McDowell

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY (2011)

Article Forestry

Tree responses to drought

Michael G. Ryan

TREE PHYSIOLOGY (2011)

Review Ecology

The interdependence of mechanisms underlying climate-driven vegetation mortality

Nate G. McDowell et al.

TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION (2011)

Article Plant Sciences

Drought-mortality relationships for tropical forests

Oliver L. Phillips et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2010)

Article Plant Sciences

Remote sensing detection of droughts in Amazonian forest canopies

Liana O. Anderson et al.

NEW PHYTOLOGIST (2010)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought

DD Breshears et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2005)

Article Biodiversity Conservation

Canopy recovery after drought dieback in holm-oak Mediterranean forests of Catalonia (NE Spain)

F Lloret et al.

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY (2004)

Article Ecology

Effects of an introduced pathogen and fire exclusion on the demography of sugar pine

PJ van Mantgem et al.

ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS (2004)

Article Forestry

Drought-induced mortality and hydraulic architecture in pine populations of the NE Iberian Peninsula

J Martínez-Vilalta et al.

FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (2002)